Screencast-O-Matic

media type="youtube" key="G7PSwUeQgMo" height="315" width="315" align="right" When students ask a question about how to do something on their computer or complete an activity in your online course, do you ever wish you could show them instead of type out your answer in an email response? Have you ever heard that a picture is worth a thousand words? What does that make a short, explanatory video worth? Screen casts are videos that capture what you are doing on the screen of your computer.

On the right is an example of a simple screencast video that helped one of my students address an issue they were experiencing with a tool used in their capstone project in a completely online graduate course.

= What is Screencast-O-Matic = Screencast-O-Matic is a Java-based web application used to create screencasts on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. Specific benefits of using Screencast-o-matic over other free screen recorders are:
 * does not require a sign-up,
 * highlighted cursor and click indicators,
 * picture in picture feature,
 * videos can be 15 minutes long
 * ease of use,
 * there is no application to download.
 * videos can be saved to your computer (mp4, etc.), uploaded to Screencast-o-matic’s web space, or uploaded to YouTube.

Step 1: Getting to Know Screencast-O-Matic

 * Watch demo videos at the Screencast-O-Matic Demo Page
 * Check out Screencast-O-Matic Video Help Center.
 * Decide if you want to signup for a free Screencast-O-Matic account.

Step 2: Play with SOM

 * 1) When ready, on your computer go to the URL of the tool, website, or activity in your online course you want to scaffold.
 * 2) On a separate tab, go to ScreenCast-O-Matic
 * 3) Simply click the Start Recording button.
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Drag the recording frame and adjust its size to the appropriate recording area on your computer screen, and begin recording.
 * 5) <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Perform the actions you want others to see on your computer screen and narrate into a microphone as you work (or include system audio from the computer).
 * 6) <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">If you have a built-in camera, you can include video of yourself or something else in a picture-in-picture format.

<span style="color: #ea5e1a; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Step 3: Share Your Video

 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Videos can be saved to your computer or uploaded to YouTube.